What it does
A easy to use service that helps industries gamify volunteering opportunities and reward their communities’ compassion for rewarding THEIR community with compassion.
This service will allow users both gamers and industries to keep track on what nearby volunteering activities are currently available and the progression of the activity. Companies will be able to reward their community's through some non-monetizable means.
Local communities to keep their non-profit status without overburdening themselves as well as being able to count it as a deductible on company expenses while benefiting the players/volunteers through rewarding them with in-game rewards such as cosmetics or limited time rewards.
One effort, three rewards.
Inspiration
We were inspired by the idea that volunteering shouldn’t just be a duty—it can be a rewarding and engaging experience for everyone involved. In many communities, volunteers, non-profits, and supporting industries often work hard to make an impact but tend to struggle to rally additional people to make an even larger impact. Those who are truly committed to a cause often becomes too disconnected with those who are not to make a connection because of how much they are willing to sacrifice. We wanted to bridge that gap of disconnection through motivating and help communicate to those who are not least willing to sacrifice or lack compassion, but because there are a lack motivation or a clear reason to participate. . Our goal is to help connect those who are willing to sacrifice with those who are willing but just doesn't know where to begin to contribute, creating a stronger, more connected community of volunteers.
How we built it
We delegated tasks amongst ourselves with 3 primary focuses.
- Frontend
- Backend
- Demo
Our Frontend utilizing React and Typescript technologies, enabling for easy conversion to mobile applications through React Native. Assisted with Gemini's new Banana image generation to create our stylistic achievements and assets.
Our Backend features a robust modern stack, leveraging NodeJS and ExpressJS for efficient server-side operations, and written in TypeScript to ensure reliability and scalability. Paring this with SQLite to provide a lightweight data storage solution perfect for our needs.
Our Demo built in Unity and also assisted by Gemini's Nano Banana imagery we were able to create a simple game to demonstrate a cosmetics unlock in a non-monetary way which will allow all three parties (Volunteers, Volunteering Groups, and Industries) benefit through the means mentioned earlier.
Challenges we ran into
Since we delegated our tasks so efficiently, we were off in our own worlds making amazing progress at our own paces. However, due to this success when we decide to regroup every so often we tend to face a slight miscommunication in our thoughts which sometimes lead to us working on thing which will not make the final project. Each time this problem occur we either choose to downscale and trim the unnecessary branches or communicate some more during the development process which lead to a slower individual progress but a much more labor efficient workflow which allowed us to get back on track even with our hiccups.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Like stated earlier, we had a few miscommunication which lead to hours wasted but by taking our time in a longer and more effective communication process along with saddening but effective down-scaling we are able to deliver our product to the Hackathon. Although this product is far from the polished ideal we have, for a 36 hour Hackathon our work is without a doubt something we can truly be proud of.
What we learned
The biggest take away for us is even with strong individual work, it matters not if the team do not come together. This might be a cheesy saying but after this Hackathon this is what truly fit our situation.
What's next for Karmabara
Although our prototype without a doubt helps demonstrates the concept of gamifying volunteering, there is still a lot more to be desired and refined. Examples of such is volunteering audience algorithm, there might be a lot of people who wishes to volunteer, but there are those who better fit the situation or volunteers that would benefits more from an experience than another.
We also aim to integrate more diverse reward systems, including more tiered achievements, and partnerships with local businesses to offer meaningful non-monetary incentives. On the technical side, scaling our backend, enhancing data tracking, and optimizing for mobile access are also possible priorities to make KarmaBara more accessible to larger communities.
Ultimately, our vision is to help the local community by connecting volunteers, players, and industries in a meaningful cycle of giving. KarmaBara turns small acts of compassion into lasting impact, making volunteering rewarding, engaging, and fun for everyone involved.
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